Valentinella
Temporal range: Maastrichtian
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Family:
Zhelestidae
Genus:
Valentinella

(Tabuce et al., 2004[1])
Species
  • †V. vitrollense (Tabuce et al., 2004)

Valentinella is a Late Cretaceous genus of eutherian mammal from France, Europe.[1] It was originally known from some damaged lower and upper jaws, and was cautiously referred to the lainodontine zhelestid mammals.[1] This identification was later questioned [2] and even considered a nomen dubium by some researchers,[3] and remains uncertain due to the scarcity and fragmentary nature of the fossils.

Valentinella was the third known Late Cretaceous eutherian mammal genus from Europe, after Labes and Lainodon.[1] It was found at Vitrolles-La Plaine in the Aix-en-Provence Basin (Maastrichtian in age), in south-eastern France.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tabuce, R., Vianey-Liaud, M. and Garcia, G., 2004. A eutherian mammal in the latest Cretaceous of Vitrolles, southern France. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 49(3).
  2. ^ Gheerbrant, E. and Astibia, H., 2012. Addition to the Late Cretaceous Laño mammal faunule (Spain) and to the knowledge of European “Zhelestidae”(Lainodontinae nov.). Bulletin de la Société géologique de France, 183(6), pp.537-546.
  3. ^ Archibald, J.D. and Averianov, A., 2012. Phylogenetic analysis, taxonomic revision, and dental ontogeny of the Cretaceous Zhelestidae (Mammalia: Eutheria). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 164(2), pp.361-426.
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